Last year's indoor track and field campaign was a momentous one for the Hillsdale College men's and women's teams for several reasons.
The Charger men broke in an exciting class of freshmen that look poised to bring home G-MAC honors for years to come, while the women's team repeated as G-MAC Champions indoors, finished in the top 10 in the nation, earned All-American status in three events and crowned its first National Champion in five seasons.
Now, with the 2021-22 season kicking off this Friday at the Grand Valley State Holiday Open in Allendale, Michigan, Hillsdale is looking to continue its run of success on both the men's and women's sides, as young talent rises to replace stars who achieved at a high level and graduated this past spring.
The Charger women, long one of the most successful teams year-in and year-out at the Division II level, have significant graduation losses to overcome as Kajsa Johansson, the 2021 DII Indoor National Champion in the 200 meter dash and the anchor leg on a 4x400m relay team that finished runner-up in the nation moves on, as does All-American distance runner Maryssa Depies.
But the cupboard is far from bare for the Chargers, as Hillsdale returns several athletes who could be in contention for All-American honors this season on the women's side. While Johansson departs, the other three members of that national runner-up relay that broke the Hillsdale College school record in that event -- freshman Shura Ermakov, sophomore Dakota Stamm, and junior Alanna O'Leary -- all return. That trio combined with junior Zolanya Eby, who also returns this year, to earn All-American honors in the 4x400 relay in the outdoor track season as well. With all four athletes back in 2021-22, there's every reason to believe that if the group stays healthy, the Chargers will have a 4x400m relay that will be a contender at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in March.
Individually, both Ermakov and Stamm have impressed and could be in line for a break-out. Ermakov was the G-MAC Indoor Freshman of the Year in 2021 and won the G-MAC 400m hurdles title outdoors, while Stamm was the 400m indoor champion in the G-MAC. If both continue to drop time, they'll be in contention to qualify for the national meet individually in sprints and hurdle races.
In the distances, losing Depies is a blow. But the Chargers return a strong group. Junior Claire McNally ran a provisional qualifying time in the indoor 5,000m run last year and the times needed to contend for a spot in the national finals are in reach, while sophomore Margaret Scheske ran in the 2021 Outdoor National Championships in the 3,000m steeplechase and enters the winter season off a strong cross country campaign. Hillsdale is also hoping for big things from freshman Liz Wamsley, who missed the entire track season last year with injuries but was the Chargers' top runner and an All-Midwest Region honoree in cross country this fall, and Kaitlyn Rust, who ran several competitive 800m races last season indoors.
The Chargers also will have strong contenders in the field. Junior Nikita Maines holds the Hillsdale school records in the indoor and outdoor shot put and finished 10th in the indoor national meet in the event last season. She'll be a strong contender for the Chargers in the weight throw as well, and teammate Michaela Burkhauser also threw a provisional qualifying mark in the shot put last season. In the jumps, Emily Gerdin was the G-MAC Indoor triple jump champion and continues to improve.
On the men's side, Hillsdale is hoping for a big second act for a class of second-year athletes that impressed immediately as freshmen last season. Sprinter Jamahl Burke was the G-MAC Indoor Freshman of the Year and ran a provisional qualifying time in the 400m dash, while hurdler Sean Fagan set a new school record in the 60m hurdles and also ran a provisional qualifying time in the event. Teaming with sophomores Ian Calvert and Benu Meintjes, the pair also ran on a G-MAC Championship winning and provisional-meeting 4x400m relay that returns all four members this season.
Along with those four, the Chargers also bring back a strong contender in the middle distances in Micah Vanderkooi, who won the G-MAC outdoor title in the 800m run in the spring and looked strong in his first cross country season in the fall. And in the field events, the Chargers return their most decorated athlete of all on the men's side, two-time All-American Ben Raffin, who placed in the top eight in both the Indoor and Outdoor National Championships in the pole vault last season and has a personal-best clearance of 5.13 meters.
Perhaps the most exciting unknown for the Chargers is what new and returning faces will surprise and become big names of their own accord this season. Only a few of the names mentioned in this article came into the 2020-21 season with proven marks and high expectations from outside observers, and yet all made a significant impact. With a large and talented freshman class that looks especially strong in the jumps and throws on both the men's and women's squads, new faces are almost guaranteed to make their mark on the upcoming season.